Copilot PDF to Excel: How to Pull a Table out of a PDF
The short answer: yes, Copilot can get a table out of a PDF and into Excel, in 2 ways. With a paid licence (Microsoft 365 Copilot, now called Microsoft Copilot) and the PDF saved in OneDrive or SharePoint, ask Copilot in Excel on Windows or Mac to add the table to your sheet. Or snip the table, upload it to Copilot Chat and ask for an Excel file (a tip from a Microsoft employee's blog, not product documentation).
And for a PDF that lands every month in the same layout? I'd skip AI altogether and use Excel's own Get Data From PDF on Windows. Below: all 3 routes, prompts to copy, and the traps.
Pick your route first
1PDF in OneDrive or SharePoint, paid licence
Copilot in Excel. It pulls the table straight into the workbook you have open.
2Excel for the web, or a table you already snipped
Copilot Chat. Upload a screenshot of the table and ask for an Excel file (the Excel Agent that builds it needs a Copilot licence).
3Windows, and the same PDF every month
Get Data From PDF in Power Query. No Copilot licence, no prompts, and a query you build once.
Route 1: Copilot in Excel pulls the table from a PDF
Microsoft's support page says you can ask Copilot in Excel to add data from files saved in SharePoint or OneDrive, and PDF is on that list next to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The page applies to Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac (the web isn't listed), and the feature needs a Copilot licence. For the full tour, see my Microsoft Copilot for Excel guide.
1Save the PDF to the cloud
Put it in OneDrive or a SharePoint library. This route works with files saved there.
2Open Copilot and ask
Select the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of Excel (or press F6) and describe the table you want. Copilot takes a moment to collect the data, then inserts it.
3Confirm the work sources
Copilot asks you to select and confirm which work sources it may use. A new chat resets those approvals, so expect to confirm again.
Microsoft doesn't publish a "pull the table from this PDF" prompt (its file example is generic: get outliers from my file about costs). So these are mine. Swap in your file name:
Find the monthly expenses table in Q3-report.pdf and insert it on a new sheet, with the header row and without the totals row.
Add the price table from supplier-quote.pdf to this sheet. Keep the column order from the PDF and put the currency in its own column.
4It's a one-off copy
Refreshable imports only work for Excel files with tables. A PDF import won't update itself next month, so ask again (or switch to route 3). And if Copilot says it can't access your organizational data, Microsoft's February 2025 launch post suggests checking whether Restricted SharePoint Search is on. That's a question for IT, and Microsoft has blocked new enablement of that tool since 31 July 2026.
Route 2: a screenshot, Copilot Chat and an Excel file
Copilot Chat at work accepts PDF and image uploads, and its Excel Agent generates a real Excel file and saves it to your OneDrive. A Microsoft employee described the combination on a Microsoft-hosted blog: snip the table, upload it to Copilot Chat, ask for a ready-to-use Excel file. Treat that as a tip. No product page documents the full PDF-to-xlsx workflow.
1Attach the snip
Select Add and manage sources, then Upload images and files. For a file in OneDrive, use Attach cloud files.
2Who gets the Excel Agent
Microsoft's page contradicts itself on users without a licence, so I only promise it with a Copilot licence. If your admin has switched Anthropic models off, the option won't show up.
Extract the table in this image into a structured table with the same columns and row order, and create an Excel file from it.
Check that each column total in the file you created matches the totals row in the image, and flag every difference.
Microsoft's own line on that page: always review generated files for accuracy before sharing. With finance tables, I'd check every total. Boring? Yes. Cheaper than a wrong board pack.
Route 3: Get Data From PDF, no Copilot needed
The PDF connector in Power Query shipped in 2020 and Microsoft marks it as generally available. In my biased eyes, it's still the most reliable answer for a monthly PDF with a fixed layout. Then let Copilot do the cleanup.
1The steps
Data > Get Data > From File > From PDF. Pick the file, select Open, and the Navigator shows the tables it found. Load puts the data on a sheet, Transform Data opens Power Query first.
2Windows only
From PDF isn't on the Mac source list or in Excel for the web. The web can refresh a PDF query you built on the desktop, as long as the PDF sits in SharePoint.
3The error you might see
The connector needs .NET Framework 4.5 or higher. Without it you get "This connector requires one or more additional components to be installed before it can be used." Ask IT.
4What it handles, and where it struggles
Similar tables on consecutive pages are combined by default. Multi-line rows are the known weak spot, and Microsoft suggests cleaning them up afterwards. For big PDFs, work 1 page or a small range at a time. For many PDFs at once, use the Folder connector.
Once the data is in, the cleanup prompts are in Copilot prompts for Excel.
Scanned PDFs, Mac users and what to check
1Scanned PDF: Data from Picture
Excel's Data from Picture turns an image of a table into editable data. It takes images, not PDF files. So screenshot the page, then Data > From Picture > Picture From Clipboard. Review the results, fix what's wrong, then Insert Data.
2Check the language list
Data from Picture supports 21 character sets, from English to Turkish. Greek, Hebrew and Arabic aren't on the list. For tables in those languages, route 2 is the one to try, and Microsoft doesn't document how well it reads them. Check every number.
3A clean image
Microsoft's rules: only the data you want, cropped, head-on and never at an angle. It needs Excel for Microsoft 365, and on Windows, Windows 10 (version 1903 or later) or Windows 11.
4OCR in Power Query?
Neither the PDF connector page nor its function reference mentions OCR or scanned files. Not that it works, not that it fails. Test on a real file before you build a monthly process on it.
5On a Mac
You have Copilot in Excel (for files in OneDrive or SharePoint), Copilot Chat, and Data from Picture. Just not From PDF.
Only need to know what the PDF says, with no table? That's what Copilot can summarize. And if you're still deciding between modes in the Excel pane, read Copilot agent mode in Excel.
Questions about Copilot PDF to Excel
Can Copilot convert a PDF to Excel?
Yes. With a Copilot licence, Copilot in Excel on Windows or Mac can add data from a PDF saved in OneDrive or SharePoint. You can also upload a screenshot of the table to Copilot Chat and ask its Excel Agent for an Excel file, a method from a Microsoft employee's blog rather than product documentation.
How do I extract a table from a PDF into Excel with Copilot?
Save the PDF to OneDrive or SharePoint, open Copilot in Excel and ask for the specific table by name and file. Confirm the work sources when asked, then check the numbers.
Can Copilot transfer PDF to Excel for free?
Copilot in Excel needs a Copilot licence to pull data from files, and Microsoft's wording on free access to the Excel Agent is contradictory. Excel's own Get Data From PDF on Windows needs no Copilot licence at all.
Does Get Data From PDF work on Mac?
No. From PDF isn't on the Mac source list or in Excel for the web. Excel for the web can only refresh a PDF query built on Windows when the PDF is stored in SharePoint.
Can Copilot read a scanned PDF table?
Microsoft doesn't document OCR for the PDF connector. For a scanned table, screenshot it and use Data from Picture, or upload the image to Copilot Chat. Data from Picture supports 21 character sets, and Greek, Hebrew and Arabic aren't among them.
Stop retyping tables from PDFs
I run hands-on Copilot in Excel workshops for finance teams, up to 20 people, from 1.5 to 4 hours, live online.